Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-29
BILL NYE AS A CANDIDATE.
I'm an Unguarded Moment He Is
Captured by n Political siren.

I'm am Unxuarded Moment HE Is
Captured by n Political Siren.
l have just returned from the new.
made grave of little boomlet Of my
own. Yesterday / dug a little hole in
the back yard, and buried in it my
little boom, where the pie-plant will
cast its cooling shadows over it and
the pinch-bug can come and carol
over it at eventide.
A few weeks ago q plain man came
to me and asked me my name. Re-
freshing my memory by looking al
the mark on my linen, 1 told him
prom pity who | was. He said that
no had resided in New York for a
long time, and felt the hour had now
arrived for politics in this city to
be purified. Would l assist him in
this great work? If SO, would l ap-
point a trysting place where we could
meet and lryst? suggested the holy
hush and quiet OF lower Broadway or
the New York end of the East River
bridge at 6 o'clock, but he said no, we
might be discovered. So We agreed
TO meet at my house. There he told
me that his idea was to run me for the
State Senate this fall not because he
had any political axe to grind, but be-
cause he wanted to see old methods
wiped out and the will of the people
find true and unfettered expression.
"And, sir" asked, "what party dc
you represent"
81 represent those who wish for
purity, those who sigh for the results
Of unbought suffrages, those who de-
spise old methods and yearn to hear
the unsmothered voice of the people 3"
''Then you are Mr.. Vox Populi him
self, perhaps?"
in dead earnest. I represent the party
of Purity in New York.
"And WI y did you not bring the
party with you? Then you and l and
my wife and this party you speak OF
could have had a game OF whist to-
eether." said with an air of mimi
table drollery.
But he seemed to be shocked by my
trifiing manner, and again asked me
to be his standard-bearer. Finally |
said reluctantly that would do so,
for have always said that | would
never shrink from any duty in case +
should become the victim OF political
preferment,
In Wyoming I had several times
accepted the portfolio of Justice of the
Peace, SO l knew what it was to be
called forth by the wild and clamor-
GUS appeals OF my constituents and
asked to stand up for principle, to
buckle on the armor of true patriot
ism, and with drawn sword and over
drawn salary to battle for the right.
In running for office in Wyoming
our greatest expense and annoyance
arose from the immense distances we
had to travel in order to go over one
county. Many day | have travelled
during an exciting canvass from day
light to dark without meeting voter
But here was Il senatorial district not
larger than joint school di ;trict, and
l thought the expense OF laking a
canvass would be comparative ysmall
That was where l made a l.istake.
On the day after Mr.. Lucifer Kargill
had entered my home and with hon
eyed words made me believe that
New York had been, figuratively
speaking, sitting back ON her launches
for fifty years waiting for me to come
along and be a standard-bearer, a man
came to my house who said he had
heard that was looking toward the
Senate, and that he had come to see
me as the representative Of Irving
Hall. I said that / did not care a
continental for Irving Hall so far as
my own campaign was concerned, as
l intended to do all my speaking in
the school houses.
He said that l did not understand
him. What he wanted to know was
what percentage Of my gross earnings
at Albany would go into the Irving
Hall Sinking fund, provided that Or
ganization indorsed me? | said 1 was
going into this campaign to purify pol
itics. and that would do what was
right towards Irving Hall, in order to
be placed in position where | could
get in my work as q purifier.
We then had a long talk upon what
he called the needs OF the hour. He
said that l would make a good candi-
date, as had no past. was unknown
and safe. Besides, he could see that
l had the elements OF success, for
had never expressed any oponion
about anything and had never antag-
onized any of the different wings OF
the party by saying anything the peo-
pie had paid any attention to. He
sud also that he had learned | had
belonged to all the different parties,
and SO would be familiar with the
methods of each. He then asked me
to sign pledge, and after [ had done
30 he shook hands with me and went
away.
The next day was waited upon by
the treasurers OF eleven chowder
clubs, the financial secretary of the
Shanty Sharpshooters and Goat Hill
Volunteers. A man also came to OBJ |
tain means for burying dead friend.
| afterwards saw him doing so to some
extent. He was burying his friend
beneath the solemn shadow of a heavy
mahogany colored moustache, OF
which he was the sole proprietor.
was waited upon by delegations
from Tammany, the County Democ
racy and the Jefersonian Simplicity
Club. Everybody seemed to have
dropped his own business in order to
wait upon me.
1 became pledged to everything on
condition that should be elected.
1t makes mo shudder now to think
what 1 may have signed. | paid
iorty-odd dollars for the privilege OF
voting for beautiful child, and thus
lost all influence with every other
parent in the contest. voted for the
most popular young lady and heard
afterwards that she regarded me only
as a friend. had a biography and
portrait of myself printed in an OBJ
scure paper that claimed large circu-
lation, and the first time the forms
wont into the press q loose screw fell |